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The team behind 'Yemaya.' Handout

Leah C. Salterio

For its first production of 2026, 9 Works Theatrical is betting on something far from a sure thing: an unfamiliar Pulitzer Prize-winning play, and the first straight drama for the company,Its director, Ed Lacson, Jr., admits &quot;Yemaya&quot; is an “obscure” material, and many don’t even know if it is a play or a musical.A Filipino translation of Eljay Castro Deldoc of the acclaimed “Yemaya’s Belly,” by Pulitzer winner Quiara Alegria Hudes, the play is  the highly anticipated directorial comeback for Lacson after staging “Himala” in 2018. Since then, Lacson has largely stepped away from directing to focus on his work aboard cruise ships.A migration story, it follows a boy’s epic journey as he traverses the lands and seas in search for his true place in the world.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1780874735047Bituin (w_ Logo).jpg" style="width:633px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Bituin Escalante stars in &#x27;Yemaya.&#x27; Handout"/>Bituin Escalante stars in &#x27;Yemaya.&#x27; Handout</div>Blending seasoned theater performers with sought-after young talents, “Yemaya” stars Bituin Escalante, playing the titular role of Yemaya/Inay. The role of Jesus/Mulo will be shared by Tommy Alejandrino and Benedix Ramos, while taking on the character of Maya are Sheena Belarmino and Ness Roque.Veteran actor Herbie Go plays Tico, with Sheenly Gener as Lila, Anthony Falcon as Jelin and Wenah Nagales as cover for Yemaya/Inay.Deldoc’s Filipino translation of the material bridges the gap between Hudes’ vibrant Latin American roots and the shared archipelago experience of the Philippines, bringing the story closer to the realities of the Filipinos.“It&#x27;s just the first time that we&#x27;re doing a straight play,” 9 Works Theatrical executive producer and managing director Santi Santamaria, told ABS-CBN News. “It&#x27;s nothing that we never wanted to do,” Santamaria added. “It&#x27;s something that we aspire to do in the future. We had some straight plays before, but it was really more of a collaborative effort. I guess it would be just the perfect time and the perfect material.”<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1780874809704IMG_4105.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="The team behind &#x27;Yemaya.&#x27; Handout"/>The team behind &#x27;Yemaya.&#x27; Handout</div>It was actually Santamaria’s wife, Anna, who talked to Lacson, Jr. about doing “Yemaya” last February. “We decided to do something productive with Ed,” Santamaria said. “He’s not permanently here. He’s not permanently back. He’s just on vacation.“It has to be a material that he wants to do or would love. It couldn&#x27;t just be any material... Ed is very confident about the material and how he wants to tell the story. He feels so strongly about the material...The play is about migration. It’s aspirational. It brings nostalgia.”&#x27;Lacson has spent the past several years working aboard cruise ships, and never felt a strong urge to return to theater until 9 Works Theatrical approached him about the project.&quot;That was a big deal for me to say okay. Not a lot of producers will give you that free hand to just take whatever material you want.&quot; Lacson said.After spending nearly a year reading scripts and exploring different options, he eventually discovered &quot;Yemaya.&quot; The story struck a personal chord: he was reading a play about the ocean and a boy searching for a better life while working in the middle of the sea himself.&quot;The images in the story were unlike anything I normally see onstage,&quot; he said. &quot;It really caught my imagination.&quot;With the support of 9 Works Theatrical, Lacson submitted the script and began work on what would become his long-awaited return to directing.Lacson clarified that “Yemaya” is a translation, not an adaptation. “We&#x27;re not moving the setting to the Philippines,” Lacson said. “There are just a lot of nuances in the script that cannot be fully moved into a different location. So it&#x27;s basically a fictionalized town, not too different from a Caribbean or Cuban town. Something near to the US, because it&#x27;s a big factor in the story.”“Taking a boat from the Philippines to the US is not in the collective consciousness of kids in this country. So there&#x27;s a very specific thing that we can, but it is a fictionalized story.”<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1780874867006IMG_4106.jpeg" style="width:633px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Bituin Escalante stars in &#x27;Yemaya.&#x27; Handout"/>Bituin Escalante stars in &#x27;Yemaya.&#x27; Handout</div>Actress Escalante admitted she was not familiar about the material when “Yemaya” was brought to her consciousness. She has not done theater in a while after “Joseph the Dreamer,” where she took on a mother role, too.“What’s apparent now, we were all individually and profoundly moved by what we read in ‘Yemaya.’ Ed and I discussed before I signed on for this, if we would adapt it for a Filipino version. That was the question we asked each other,&quot; she said.“There was never a need to adapt it to the Filipino experience, even if it’s as alien as the Cuban immigration experience, it moves you deeply. Even if it’s an obscure project, it is relatable. You signed on without thinking of the returns, you want to be part of the experience. No matter what, as an artist, you have something like ‘Yemaya,’ you’ll be part of the experience of telling the story, it’s a gift.”Escalante observed that young people are so “thirsty” to be part of something new. “All the productions we saw lately, I know the story. We don’t know what’s coming in ‘Yemaya,’” Escalante said. “This young audience, especially after the COVD experience, theater does something immeasurable for them.”Despite its relatively small cast, Lacson believes he assembled the right team to bring the story to life.&quot;It&#x27;s a lean cast, but a strong one,&quot; the director said. &quot;I&#x27;m lucky to have found people who felt the same connection to the script. I&#x27;m lucky the pieces came together.&quot;That shared commitment is especially important given the demands of the material. Blending magic realism with grounded storytelling, &quot;Yemaya&quot; requires the creative team to constantly navigate the shifting line between fantasy and reality.&quot;There are moments when reality suddenly changes,&quot; Lacson explained. &quot;Sometimes we only discover those transitions during rehearsals. Realism is part of the spectrum.&quot;For Lacson, that challenge is part of the appeal. He acknowledged that &quot;Yemaya&quot; is not the kind of play that comes together effortlessly, but said the complexity of the material has pushed the company creatively.&quot;There&#x27;s still a lot of work to be done,&quot; he said. &quot;But that&#x27;s the creative process. We wanted the challenge.&quot;<div> </div><div>“Yemaya” opens on June 13 and runs until July 5, with 8 p.m. shows on Friday, and 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. shows on Saturday and Sunday at The Blackbox of The Proscenium Theater, Rockwell, Makati.</div>

A boy's journey across land and sea in search of belonging lies at the heart of "Yemaya," the latest production from 9 Works Theatrical and perhaps its most ambitious leap into unfamiliar territory yet.

A boy's journey across land and sea in search of belonging lies at the heart of "Yemaya," the latest production from 9 Works Theatrical and perhaps its most ambitious leap into unfamiliar territory yet.

Why 'Yemaya' could be 9 Works Theatrical's boldest gamble yet

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Why 'Yemaya' could be 9 Works Theatrical's boldest gamble yet

Leah C. Salterio

Published June 10, 2026 10:00 AM PHT

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Updated June 10, 2026 11:27 AM PHT

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Bituin Escalante

Yemaya

Ed Lacson Jr.

9 Works Theatrical

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